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Caleb stayed out later than usual. Later, and further from his normal route, drifting thought alleyways and shadowed streets that buzzed faintly with neon. He told himself it was because Zayne was still tied up at the hospital with late surgeries. If Zayne wasn’t home, what was the point of rushing back? That’s what he told himself.
The truth was different. These nights, Caleb wasn’t really out because of crime, though that does play a factor, but because of curiosity. Because of the rumors. Because of the one they called Dawnbreaker. The so-called vigilante wasn’t part of any official hero association, yet his results left most registered heroes in the dust. He seemed to mostly work at night and always left a trail of frozen streets and unconscious criminals in his wake, the ones the association would have taken weeks to find. Zayne said Caleb was obsessed, but Caleb disagreed. He was just wanting to know why a man like Dawnbreaker wouldn’t join the association?they would gladly take him as his evol is too useful to pass up. He's strong and anyone could guess that by his aftermath.
Tonight, the trail has led Caleb back into Dawnbreaker’s territory, a risky area riddled with crime lords tied to the N109 zone, the kind of enemies even the association tiptoed around. He wasn’t even in uniform just in case he was spotted around here.
High above it all, Caleb sat on the ledge of a building, city lights glimmering below. The first shots cracked through the night shortly after he had reached the ears. He tensed instantly and launched himself skyward, gravity bending to his will, pulling him towards the sound. When he arrived, he didn’t need to guess who was there. Ice. Shards of it sliced through the alley, crawling up buildings like crystalline vines. Dawnbreaker was already in the middle of the fray, dancing a dozen men alone. His movements were sharp, ruthless, icicles forming out of the air, slamming into the gang members with a brutal precision. He froze guns mid-shot, floors under men’s feet, walls around their bodies.
Caleb hovered at the edge, watching closely. The association would benefit from his evol and strength. He has the strongest elemental evol he’s seen in a long time. That being said something was off. Dawnbreaker’s rhythm faltered just barely, but enough for Caleb to see. His breathing was uneven. His hands trembled between strikes. Even so, Dawnbreaker ended it in minutes. The last man fell, encased in ice up to his chest. Silence rang through the alley, broken only by the brittle crawling of ice settling into the concrete.
Caleb almost slapped. Almost. But then he noticed it..ice cropping where it shouldn’t, crawling not just across the street but up Dawnbreaker’s own neck. His body heaved, breaths ragged, too fast. And when the man stumbled back, about to crack his skill on the wall, Caleb reacted before he thought. Gravity bending and caught him, lowering him gently. Most people would have left him there. Caleb couldn’t bring himself to do that.
He landed lightly beside the man. Up close, the air burned with cold, stinging his lungs. Dawnbreaker leaned against the wall, barely conscious, Ice unfurling wildly from his body. Caleb knew what it meant instantly.
A fractured core.
That explained everything. Why Dawnbreaker never joined the associations. Why he fought alone. Why his evol was so intense and so dangerous.
Caleb crouched, listening to the weak sound of his breathless moans slipping past the mask. “Why would you even use your evol if this is what it does to you?” Caleb muttered more to himself.
There was no answer from the man. The ice spread wider. Caleb made a choice. He grabbed Dawnbreaker’s hand. Even through his gloves, the cold seated him to the bone. The man twitched, pain etched into the sound of another soft moan.
“Hey,” Caleb urged, tightening his grip.”Dawnbreaker. Time to wake up.”
The ice spread under his own feet, frost crawling hungrily. Caleb leaned in closer, he tried to calm the man the way he use to calm Zayne when he use to have nightmares. “It’s alright. I’m here.”
The man jolted awake. Ice shot up Caleb’s arm like a serpent, but just as quickly Dawnbreaker pulled his hand away. Through the mask, Caleb couldn’t see his eyes, but he felt the weight of his gaze.
“Get out of here, Colonel,” the man rasped in a voice low and strange.
Caleb’s heart skipped. How did he know? He wasn’t in costume..there was no way.
Dawnbreaker tried to rise but collapsed before he could even get himself slightly off the ground, body stiff with ice. Caleb caught him again, alarmed at the unnatural chill that speeded through every layer of his clothes.
“You shouldn’t touch me,” Dawnbreaker gasped between breaths. “The ice …it’s too strong.”
“I’m a strong guy. It’s fine.” Caleb lied through his teeth. Sure he’s strong, but his evol caused pins of frost stabbing into his skin. He slung the man’s arm over his shoulder hefting his weight.
“Leave,” Dawnbreaker whispered against his ear.”There is nothing you can do.”
Caleb smirked grimly. “We’ll see about that.” No way was he going to just leave the guy in the middle of the alley around a bunch of bodies of criminals that may have backup coming. He bent gravity to his will and lifted them night skyward. The man hung heavy, linked in his arms, the cold sinking deeper into Caleb’s chest. But they made it to the rooftop. Safe. And by then Dawnbreaker was unconscious. ice slowly retreated, his body finally loosening. Caleb dig into his bag he hid on the rooftop, pulling free a vial of calmer, a suppressant drink for when evol spiraled out of control. It was the least he could do. He’d give it to the man, let him rest, then leave. That was the plan.
Until the moment he heard his name.
Not Colonel. His real name. Whispered faintly from Dawnbreaker’s lips. Caleb froze. That voice …it wasn’t the distorted growl form before. It was a voice he knew as intimately as his own heartbeat.
His hands trembled as he reached for the mask. Pulled it free. And there, beneath it, was Zayne. The love of his life.
Caleb’s mind spun, the rooftop tilting beneath his feet as though his reality shifted. He barely recognized his own voice when it came out soft and raw. “Zayne,” he whispered. “Oh, Zayne… what have you gotten yourself into?” The truth pressed against him from every direction Zayne had an evol… Zayne had hidden it..his love had been Dawnbreaker all along. Why? Was it the fractured core? Was it shame? Fear? The boy who had one dreamed to join in the association with him. Who swore they’d rise side-by-side, maybe that was the reason why he kept it hidden. The fact that they never let anyone in with the fractured core. He had carried that burden alone.
Caleb leaned down, placing a trembling palm against his lover's cheek. The skin was icy, as always, but now the chill carried meaning he’d never noticed before he felt stupid for missing it. All the times Zayne’s hand lingered cold on his own, all the nights Caleb had brushed it off.
Green eyes fluttered open, hazy with exhaustion. Zayne blinked slowly, awareness, daunting only when he realized his mask and Caleb‘s touch was on his face. His lips parted, an apology forming…
“Don’t,” Caleb cut in, voice steady, but gentle. “Not yet. You need to drink this first. Your ice still hasn’t calmed.”
He pressed the vial to Zayne’s lips, watching until he swallowed every drop. Only then did Caleb let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. He pulled Zayne against him, wrapping him close, feeling his head style onto his shoulder. For a moment, it was like it’s always been. Just the two of them. Zayne’s arms lifted weakly, looping around Caleb.
“I wish you’d told me,” Caleb murmured, voice thick with everything that he couldn’t find the words to say. “ I’m just glad I was here tonight. I can’t imagine…you alone in that alley.”
“I’m sorry,” Zayne breathed, his words muffled against Caleb. “ I didn’t know how to say it. And then it had been too long… It felt impossible to tell you.”
Caleb leaned back enough to see his face. The frost was finally retreating away from his neck, the jacket veins of ice fading little by little his features softened, but the weariness still edged deep into his face. No longer in dire need, but still not completely fine. Without thinking, Caleb closed the distance brushing his lips against Zayne’s. The kiss was cool. It was always cool but now it carried something new, something sharper, now he knew the reason why their kisses always left him with the chill. Now he knew the truth and everything that meant.
When he pulled back, Zayne’s green eyes were awake again alive and a way that Caleb had feared they wouldn’t be tonight. Caleb took his hand firmly in his own. “If you aren’t going to stop,” Caleb said, pausing to let the weight of the words fall between them, “then I’m just going to have to join you.”
“Good evening,” the anchor began. “Tonight’s top story, crime across the inner districts has seen a dramatic drop in recent weeks. The reason? A new and unlikely team up that has caught the city by storm. Dawnbreaker and Colonel have come together as an unofficial, unregistered and unstoppable pair. But not everyone is celebrating. The Unicorn association released a statement today condemning the pair's activities urging both of the men to stop continuing unregistered activities, unless they are looking to be punished.
The Colonel’s departure from the association remains unexplained, and this partnership only raises further questions.” The news anchor smiles. “ While the association scrambles for answers, public opinion seems to lean the other way. Many citizens are praising the duo siding not just the drop in crime but their efficiency, decisiveness, and their willingness to take on gangs the association itself had long ignored.”
The anchor's voice lowered, more pointed. “Love them or hate them, Dawnbreaker and the Colonel are making waves. And if the city had its way..this may only be the beginning.”